Movable garment pressing chest



March 31, 1970 N, MCWLLAN 3,503,545

MOVABLE GARMENT PRESSING CHEST Filed Nov. 4, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I IJG 1 w a v /4 INVENTOR. JZ/my N /70 /'/////uv (5)1115 li. 472-95. M

March 31, 1970 J. N. M MILLAN 3,503,545

I MOVABLE GARMENT PRESSING CHEST Filed Nov. 4, 1968 z Sheets-Sheet z sq q 31 E15 25.4

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United States Patent 3,503,545 MOVABLE GARMENT PRESSING CHEST Jerry N. McMillan, P.O. Box 167, Colville, Wash. 99114 Filed Nov. 4, 1968, Ser. No. 773,143 Int. Cl. D06c 15/00 US. Cl. 223-57 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment pressing chest is movably mounted in a garment pressing and finishing machine for pressing and finishing the front portion of a garment mounted on an elevated upright form. The pressing chest is mounted to a carriage that moves up and down in an upright track means. The carriage is connected to a chain that extends over an end of a piston rod for moving the carriage up or down a distance twice the stroke of the piston rod. The track means is pivotally mounted to the frame for moving the upper end toward and away from the form to press the chest against the form when the chest is in the up position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to garment pressing and finishing machines and more particularly to movable garment pressing chests for pressing and finishing garments such as shirts, dresses, uniforms and the like.

It is advantageous in pressing and finishing garments such a shirts, dresses, uniforms and the like, to mount the garment on a form and then to move a steam heated chest against the front of the form to press and finish the front of the garment. However, one of the problems associated with such equipment is the difficulty of mounting the garment on the form in a fast and efficient manner without becoming burned by the pressing chest.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a heated garment pressing chest for pressing the front of the garment in which the garment pressing chest is out of the way when the garment is mounted on the form.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a large garment pressing chest that may be moved from a position providing unobstructed access to the form for mounting to a pressing and finishing position for pressing a large area of the front of the garment.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a movable garment pressing chest that in inexpensive to manufacture, simple in operation and easy to maintain.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon the reading of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a garment pressing and finishing machine having a form facing forward for receiving a garment, such as the shirt, with a garment pressing chest positioned below the form providing unobstructed access to the form to mount a garment thereon;

FIG. 2 is a front view similar to FIG. 1, except showing the garment pressing chest moved upwardly and inwardly to press and finish the front portion of the garment on the form;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary enlarged front view of a mechanism for moving the garment pressing chest from the lower position to an upper pressing and finishing position;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 3; and

3,503,545 Patented Mar. 31, 1970 FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A garment pressing and finishing machine is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, having a general frame 11 with a torso form 12 mounted upright thereon at an elevation that is convenient for the operator to place a garment thereon. The torso form 12 has a general configuration similar to the human torso from the waist to the neck. A shirt 13 is shown mounted on the form 12 to indicate the nature of the pressing and finishing machine and the configuration of the torso form 12.

The machine 10 has a hood 14 substantially surrounding the torso form with an elongated front opening 15 to enable the operator to conveniently mount the garment on the form. A fan 17 is mounted on top of the hood 14 with an exhaust duct 16 extending therefrom for removing the steam heat that is generated within the hood durin g the pressing and finishing operation.

A large pressing and finishing chest 18 is movably mounted on the frame 11 for movement from a lower position (FIG. 1) below the form 12 to an upper pressing and finishing position, shown in FIG. 2. The chest 18 has a concave front plate 20 (FIG. 4) with a polished inner surface for engaging a large portion of the front of the garment. The chest 18 has a back plate 21 that is secured at the periphery to the front plate 20 to provide a steam cavity 22 therebetween to heat the front plate during the finishing and pressing operation. A mounting bracket 23 is mounted on the back of the chest 18 with two hori- Zontally aligned lugs 24 and 25 extending outwardly therefrom (FIG. 5).

The pressing and finishing chest 18 is movably mounted on a track means 27 that is positioned upright on the frame 11 in front of the form 12. The track means 27 has an elongated frame 28 that is pivotally mounted to a trunnion 30 fixed to the frame 11. The frame 28 is pivotal on the trunnion 30 intermediate an upper end 31 and a lower end 32 (FIG. 3). The elongated frame 28 is substantially rectangular in cross section with elongated parallel sides 33 and 34, an upper end plate 35 and a lower cross plate 36.

An elongated bearing track 38 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is secured to the inside surfaces of the sides 33 and 34 along a substantial length of the frame 28. A second bearing track 40 is mounted to the inside surfaces of the sides 33 and 34 parallel with the bearing track 38. The bearing track 40 has two slides 41 and 42 mounted on each of the sides 33 and 34.

A chest carriage 44 is slidably mounted on the bearing track 38 for movement therealong. The carriage 44 has forward extending lugs 45 and 46 that cooperate with the chest mounting lugs 24 and 25 respectively to receive a shaft 48 therebetween to provide a pivot connection between the carriage 44 and the chest 18. The chain bracket 49 is mounted on the rear of the carriage 44.

-A carriage drive means 50 is mounted on the track means 27 for moving the carriage up and down along the bearing track 3 8 to move the chest 18 from the lower position to the upper pressing and finishing position. The drive means 50 includes a fluid cylinder 51 that is mounted on the frame 28 parallel with the bearing tracks 38 and 40. The fluid cylinder is supported on the cross plate 36. The fluid cylinder 51 has a piston rod 53 that is movable upwardly therefrom with a clevis 52 afiixed on the end thereof for supporting a shaft 54 therethrough. A chain sprocket 55 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 54 between the clevis 52. Bearing collars 56 and 57 are mounted on the ends of the shaft 54 respectively for slidably engaging the bearing track 40. Each of the bearing collars 56 and 57 has a shoulder ring 58 formed thereon to limit the longitudinal movement of the shaft 54. Set crews 70 are formed in the bearing collars 56 and 57 to provide longitudinal adjustment of the bearing collars 56 and 57. A chain 71 is positioned over the chain sprocket 55 with one end 710 connected to the carriage 48 and the other end 71b rigidly connected to a front plate 72 of the frame 28.

It should be noted that the carriage 44 and the chest 18 move upwardly and downwardly a distance twice that of the stroke of the piston rod 53.

A drive means 74 (FIGS. 3 and 4) is mounted on the frame 11 and operatively connected to the lower end 32 of the frame 28 for pivoting the frame about the trunnion 30 to move the chest inwardly against the form after the chest is moved to the upper pressing and finishing position as shown in FIG. 2. The drive means 74 includes a fluid cylinder 75 secured to the frame 11 with the piston rod 76 extending forward therefrom. A clevis 77 is mounted on the end of the piston rod 76 for receiving a shaft 78 that extends outward through the lower ends of the sides 33 and 34. The ends of the shaft 78 are mounted in bearings 80 and 81 respectively fixed to the sides 33 and 24.

During the operation of the garment pressing and finishing machine an operator mounts a garment, such as the shirt 13, on the form 12 while the chest 18 is in the lower position as shown in FIG. 1. In this position the steam heated chest 18 is out of the way, enabling the mounting of the shirt without having to reach around the chest. After the garment is mounted on the form 12 the fluid cylinder 51 is operated to move the piston rod upwardly to move the chest 18 from the lower loading position to the upper pressing and finishing position shown in FIG. 2. As soon as the chest is moved to the upper position the fluid cylinder 75 is operated to pivot the track means 27 about the trunnion 30 to move the chest 18 inwardly against the form to press, heat and finish the front portion of the garment. As the front portion of the garment is being pressed and finished between the chest 18 and the form 12, steam is emitted into the interior'of the form 12 to balloon the garment, as shown in FIG. 2. The fan 17 is operated to pull the heat through the form and out the exhaust duct 16 so that the heat will not dissipate through the opening 15.

It should be understood that the above described embodiment is simply illustrative of the principles of this invention and that numerous modifications may be made without deviating from the scope thereof. Therefore, only the following claims are intended to define this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a garment pressing and finishing machine having a frame and an elevated upright pressing form mounted on the frame facing forward for receiving a garment to be pressed and finished thereon, a heated front pressing and finishing chest movably mounted on the frame for vertical movement froma lower loading position below the form to an upper pressing and finishing position opposing and in the front of the form, and a first drive means operatively connected to the chest for moving the chest between the lower loading position and the upper pressing and finishing position.

2. In a garment pressing and finishing/machine as defined in claim 1 further comprising an upright track means mounted on the frame in front of the form, and a carriage movably mounted on the upright track means for movement up and down the track and wherein the chest is mounted to the carriage and wherein further the first drive means is operatively connected to the carriage for moving the carriage up and down to move the chest between the lower loading position and the upper pressing and finishing position.

3. In a garment pressing and finishing machine as defined in claim 2 wherein the upright track means is movably mounted on the frame for movement toward and away from the form and wherein the machine further comprises a second drive means operably connected to the track means for moving the track means to press the chest against the form when the chest is in the upper pressing and finishing position.

4. In a garment pressing and finishing machine as defined in claim 3 wherein the upright track means is pivotally mounted to the frame.

5. In a garment pressing and finishing machine as defined in claim 3 wherein the first drive means is mounted on the track means.

6. In a garment pressing and finishing machine as defined in claim 2 wherein the first drive means includes:

(a) a fluid cylinder mounted on the track means with the piston rod parallel with the movement of the chest;

(b) a rotatable sprocket mounted on the end of the piston rod; and (c) a chain extending over the sprocket with one end fixed to the track means and the other end atfixed to the carriage so that the chest will move twice the stroke of the piston rod.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,216,633 11/1965 Paris 223- 3,439,847 4/1969 Swain 223-70 MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner GEORGE V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner 

